Erik Westra creates events that are meaningful, memorable, and seamless for attendees, speakers, and sponsors. Westra was the director of media and events at Brain Traffic, where he produced Confab Events. He’s the cofounder of Contents, and from 2000 to 2007 Westra was the head of promotion and publicity at two legendary concert venues: The Empty Bottle and First Avenue. Erik has worked with Maximum Fun, Zeus Jones, the Walker Art Center, the MIT Media Lab and many other notable organizations.

On this episode of the podcast, Erik talks about how he went from booking bands at clubs to producing events. He talks about knowing how to bring the right people into a project, his desire and need to always have some projects that feel creatively fulfilling, and the often missed practicalities of planning an event or conference.

Erik also talks about why he loves helping others and how he tries to keep family time protected from work.